


Impossible To Reprogram

by BAmarino86



Category: Star Wars, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Corellia (Star Wars), Death Star, Doomed Relationship, Drama, F/M, Feels, Hurt/Comfort, Kashyyyk, Legends, One Shot, One Shot Collection, Romance, Sad Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:35:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25986748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BAmarino86/pseuds/BAmarino86
Summary: Juno Eclipse, former Imperial Captain, is on the run.Her entire life has been about duty and ambition,but now she finds herself at the beginning of the Rebel Alliance.Though her future is uncertain,she finds herself gravitating towards Vader's Secret Apprentice.Can they find a way to make it out aliveor is their future already doomed?One-shot. Reviews are welcome!
Relationships: Juno Eclipse & Galen Marek | Starkiller
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	Impossible To Reprogram

Captain Juno Eclipse sat alone in the pilot's seat of the Rogue Shadow. She fiddled with the different systems and scanners, and every once in a while, she ran a diagnostic check on the ship's cloaking device. Waiting was something that definitely did not come easy to the former Imperial captain. She could recall many a mission when her squadron had been held back during an attack. They had been tense moments of waiting for something to happen, but none had been as nerve-racking as this one.

"But then… I am not part of the Empire anymore," she reminded herself firmly. It was one thing to regret her past, but to wish it back when hope for a new life was ahead was foolish.

* * *

From her earliest days, Juno had learned that the only way to survive was to assume a detached attitude. His father had been like that and, after her mother died, she had assimilated his cold disposition. Then, she'd entered the Imperial Academy, and early on she'd realized that sentiment was a cumbersome weight for a soldier. She'd disposed of her emotions without a second thought, and she emerged as a newly transformed person, willing to do anything for the glory of the Empire. This attitude had helped Juno fly swiftly through the ranks until she became an elite member of Darth Vader's Black Eight Squadron and its captain. She'd been drunk with glory and had believed herself to be untouchable, and then Callos happened.

Word of insurrection in the solitary plane had reached the Emperor's ears, and her squadron was sent out to stamp out the rebels. Vader had personally directed the operation and had ordered her to fire upon the ragtag band of fighters that lay hidden in one of the tropical valleys near the planet's reactor. At any other given moment, Juno would not have objected, but these were simple, unorganized people, who had no idea what they were going up against. The battle was over, and they had lost it. What else could they take from them if not their lives?

Juno, who had not yet developed a taste for genocide, spoke quietly to Vader, asking for his leniency. The fearsome breathing went on for an eternity in the dead air of silence, and he then gave her another option: destroy the planetary reactor. Juno felt a wave of relief. Destroying the enormous machine would send the planet back to the dark ages, but at least the rebels would live.

The memory of the beautiful blue, purple planet hovering in a background of stars still brought tears to her eyes. Red and green laser fire crisscrossed the sky, but none was more deathly than the golden beam she fired against the reactor. There was a small flash of light and then an explosion that shook the interior of her cabin. The comms went dead for a moment, and then panicked cries echoed all over as the evacuation signal was given.

Juno watched in horror as her screen revealed a poisonous green cloud that emerged from the destroyed reactor. It moved in an ever-expanding circle, killing all life in a matter of minutes. It only took a couple of weeks for the planet surface to turn into brown muck, veiled by the poisonous mist. Callos would never be fit for life again.

Remorse coated Juno even as she received her team's congratulations on her clever plan and superb marksmanship. One less planet for the rebels to control! A brilliant example of the power the Empire wielded! She smiled and nodded, but once she was back in the privacy of her cabin, she'd wept for hours. It was as though she'd looked in the mirror for the first time in a long while, and realized she had become a monster. She thought about resigning, about ending her life, but nothing seemed enough to make up for what she'd done.

But then... Darth Vader had summoned her and assigned her to a secret mission, and her confidence was slightly restored. Maybe this was proof that she'd done the right thing. She had to obey the instructions she was given. THAT was her job, and she had always done so with great success. Maybe if she carried out this mission without any mishaps, she could show Vader just how loyal she could be.

Her orders had been simple enough: she was to safely transport one of his spies to and from different star systems without being discovered. Juno had been on several stealth missions before, and she accepted the charge gladly. How hard could it be to ferry a single passenger around the galaxy? And so, she was taken aboard the Executor, given a state-of-the-art ship and consequently met Vader's spy and his droid companion, PROXY.

The first sign that the mission would be anything but simple was that the spy turned out to be a young man, about the same age as her. She would have called him handsome, had she been inclined to give an opinion, but his body bore the scars of many battles. No doubt working for Vader in the shadows was not a pleasant task. He had no name but went by the code name Starkiller, and he seemed just as reluctant to have her company as she was to have his, which made it difficult to get to know him. The second sign came when she discovered Starkiller belonged to the same cult as Darth Vader, and that his mission was to hunt and eliminate the last, remaining Jedi. Juno behaved professionally and kept her opinions to herself, though the more she came to know the young man, the more she sensed that beyond all the rage and hatred, there was also good in him. And he had proved her right.

After they'd returned from a successful mission to Felucia, Darth Vader had betrayed them both to the Emperor. Palpatine had somehow discovered their activities, and Vader revealed Starkiller's true purpose. The Emperor was not at all pleased to learn his pupil was attempting to overthrow him, and he had struck hard and fast. His fleet was already waiting for them when they returned to Executor, and he had ordered Vader to kill his secret apprentice and sentenced her to death.

After that, Juno knew nothing more about Starkiller or Proxy. She was stripped of her captaincy, and her records deleted to remove any trace of her life. She had then been locked up and kept in a confinement field, where she was kept with her arms above her head until the pain made her pass out. Days blurred one into another, and she sank into a deadened stupor waiting for her execution.

One day, the wailing of alarms awakened her. Explosions shook the underbelly of the spaceship, and Juno could hear the tinned, panicky cries of stormtroopers as they ran to the nearest shuttle pods. Was she still in the Executor? Were they being attacked? No, who would possibly dare? Her cell began filling up with smoke, and her sense of survival kicked in. She struggled against the restraints to no avail, and she was too weak to even cry out for help. She felt her strength give out and resigned herself to die when suddenly the door to her cell was blown off by an explosion. Blue lightning short-circuited the holding beam, and she felt herself drop to the ground, though she did not hit the floor. Instead, a pair of strong arms caught her and lifted her upright.

"It's you!" She exclaimed as Starkiller's visage swam into view. Was it possible? "Vader said you were dead... but you came back."

"I had to," he said in the soft tone she'd come to know so well.

Juno laid her head on his shoulder as tears spilled out from her eyes. "I've been branded a traitor to the Empire."

He looked down at her, and she noted that something had changed in his eyes. They were not dark with hatred anymore, but softer, more human.

"It doesn't matter," he had said vehemently. "I don't care about any of that. I'm leaving the Empire behind."

* * *

"And here I am," Juno said out loud. "Fighting the same battles, just on the other side."

She peered through the frosted glass of the ship's windshields and gazed at the rundown building tucked among the highest peaks of the mountains of Corellia. At that moment, Galen Marek, formerly known as Starkiller, was speaking with the rebel leaders to convince them to join their cause. Juno let out a sigh. She did not know how she came to care for him, all she knew was that he had somehow breathed life and humanity back into her, and she was ready to fight and even die for him.

Suddenly the beeping of the sensor shields distracted Juno from her reverie. She turned to the monitor, and in a moment a small fleet of Imperial destroyers appeared over the ruins of the Corellian temple where the rebels were meeting. Her heart beat wildly as she rushed to the comlink and tried to send a warning signal.

"Hello? Do you read me? This is Juno Eclipse. Over. You must evacuate the building. I repeat you must evacuate. Do you copy?" She listened, switched the frequency, and tried again. "PROXY, we have an emergency. Over. You must tell them to evacuate at once. Do you copy?" An eerie silence filled her ears.

"Damn!" Juno cried out. She knew what a dead signal meant, the Imperial ships had probably blocked their communications. She slammed her fist on the console, considering her options. She could rush to the temple to find Galen, Kota, and the Rebel leaders becoming a target herself, or she could stay put and try to salvage the situation.

Suddenly the doors of the temple burst open, spreading a cloud of snow dust. Through the monitors, Juno watched in horror as Galen's body was tossed outside by an invisible force. The young man struggled to his feet as the dreaded figure of Darth Vader stood above him, his red lightsaber at the ready to deal a deathly blow. Galen yelled something at Vader, but he was cut short as the fearsome figure wielded his power. He lifted him into the air and then pushed him over the cliff with one powerful thrust of the hand. The young man managed to cling on with one hand.

Juno's hands gripped the controls tightly. Should she fire at him? She would reveal her position, but it would give Galen time enough to climb back up again. But then Vader would turn his wrath against her, and she had already witnessed just how terrible it could be.

At that moment, another lightsaber shone out of the mist behind them, this one light blue. Vader must have sensed it, for he shifted swiftly shifted to the side, narrowly evading the saber's deathly arc. At first, Juno thought it was Kota come to help, but the man looked younger than the General, and he moved with the grace of a dancer. The two exchanged furious blows, and then Vader got the better of his opponent, stabbing the blood-colored blade cleanly through his chest.

"No!" Juno cried out as purple sparks emanated from the wound. The man's shocked features flickered and then disappeared to reveal PROXY's mangled body.

Vader kicked the droid away and then walked up to the edge of the cliff. The bottom was almost invisible through the billowing clouds of powdered snow, but there was no sign of his apprentice. Satisfied, the dark shape spoke into the comlink on its wrist and walked back up to the temple.

Juno bid her time inside the Rogue Shadow until the Imperial fleet abandoned the Corellian air space. She sat in her pilot's seat, checking and double-checking that the cloaking device and deflector shields were operating correctly. Once she deemed it was safe for her to come out of hiding, she ignited the engines. The wind had picked up in the mountaintop, and Juno found it hard to steer the Rogue Shadow as it emerged from its hiding place. She decided to raise the ship above the temple and begin a slow descent to where she calculated Galen had fallen.

It took the better part of an hour of scouring the rocky outcroppings with little visibility, but, at last, Juno caught sight of a dark lump, half-buried on a snowy outcropping. With great mastery, she maneuvered the Rogue Shadow onto the ledge and left the engines on standby as she ran outside. The wind was cutting and sharp, and her teeth chattered as she waded through the snow.

After a few minutes, she managed to get Galen out. "Please, Galen. Please be alive," she thought, as she turned him around with some difficulty.

The fall had knocked him unconscious and there was a new, angry gash at waist level where Vader had struck him, but he was breathing. Juno put a hand across his cheek, and she found she was leaning in towards him. He was so close, she could see his breath floating faintly above him. And, had she wished it, she could have bent down and pressed her lips against his inert ones.

Suddenly, she sat up and shook the thought from her mind. Now was not the moment to give in to romantic daydreams. She needed to get Galen into the ship, and then figure out how to follow the fleet to save Kota and the rebel leaders. She put his arm around her neck and wondered if she was strong enough to carry him when she felt him stir.

She looked down at him and saw Galen blink his eyes open and focus on her with a soft gaze that made her heart skip a beat.

"J...Juno?" He managed to mumble before being overtaken by a violent cough.

"Don't talk, not yet," Juno said, putting her arm around him and helping him up to his feet. It took all her strength to hold him up, but the weight felt wonderful to her. It meant he was alive.

Inside the ship, Juno led Galen to the cockpit and sat him down on a chair. She quickly turned the heating on and pointed the vents toward him, and then grabbed a couple of blankets for them both. Galen accepted it without comment. He was wide awake now, and she could see he was wrought with anguish.

"They're gone." He said softly, putting his head in his hands. "Vader took them all to the Emperor."

Juno let out a gasp. Bail Organa, Mon Mothma, and Garm Bel Iblis were highly political figures and the key conspirators in their small rebellion. If Vader took them to Palpatine, it could only mean that they were going to be made examples to demonstrate what happened to those who dared defy him. And Kota? She could only imagine the pleasure it would bring Vader to personally execute one of the last Jedi masters in the galaxy.

"I don't understand," Juno said. "Why then would he let us attack so many Imperial targets?"

Galen looked up at her, his face a mask of misery. "To sell the deception! Vader needed me to find the Emperor's enemies no matter the cost, and I did exactly what he wanted me to. All is now lost."

A deep silence descended in the cockpit. Juno would never know the extent of Darth Vader's hold on Galen nor the mysteries of his past, but she knew him, and she could understand what he must be feeling. Slowly, she sank to her knees and placed her hand on his arm.

"Yes, you did as you were ordered to do, but the fate of this alliance rests only in you now. You cannot give up."

He put his hand on top of hers and gazed at her for a long moment. His eyes, once so full of hatred, were now shining brightly with resolution, strength, and something Juno couldn't quite identify. "We're going after Vader and the rebels."

Juno let out a long breath as she took her seat and launched the Rogue Shadow. The ship shuddered and shook through the strong winds, and she hoped that the ice storm they were flying through would not damage it. Once they were through the atmosphere and into the blackness of space, she turned to Galen to ask him what direction they would be taking, but her words died on her lips.

He was leaning back in the chair, his arms crossed and his eyes closed, a deep furrow of concentration marking his brow. All around the cockpit, objects drifted here and there, orbiting the space around him.

"What are you doing?" she gasped in wonder, as she saw a wrench float by.

"Meditating," He answered, slightly breaking his concentration. "Jedi can… they can sometimes sense visions of the future."

"Have you done this before?"

"I've never been a Jedi before," he replied, amusement creeping into his tone.

Juno couldn't help but smile as she continued to watch him meditate. It was amazing how, in a few moments, Galen had managed to create an aura of peace that influenced every object around him, including herself. It was as if the universe had stopped for a brief moment to give them a chance to breathe.

Galen's meditation went on for a few more minutes until he began to grow restless. His head shook from side to side, and he muttered incoherently until a scream snapped him out of the trance. "Kota!" He yelled as the things that had been floating around him fell with a dull sound.

"What is it? What did you see?" Juno asked.

"I saw a… a massive space station…" He whispered, his eyes wide open, as though he could see whatever he was describing. "It is… still under construction."

Moments later, Juno prepared the Rogue Shadow for a hyperspeed and set the coordinates Galen gave her.

* * *

When the ship exited hyperspace a few hours later, Juno found their target was something that resembled a small, incomplete moon. As they drew nearer, she stared at it in silence, aghast at the sheer size of it.

"There it is," Galen spoke behind her, making her jump.

As soon as they'd entered hyperspace, Galen had gone into the sleeping pod, leaving her alone with her thoughts. Despite the low probabilities of success, Juno had allowed herself to daydream about beginning a new life with Galen someplace far away. Would he be willing to leave behind his past to live a quiet life with her? Would she? Juno knew that her life had always been driven by ambition. Would it be so hard to give that up to spend a life in peace? If they somehow managed to escape the Empire, what would they do? Where would they go? There were planets far in the Outer Rim where no one would question their past.

Now, as he sat down beside her, Juno's hopes faded away. Galen had tended to his wounds and cleaned up, changing his attire to a set of beige and brown robes she'd never seen on him before. They were the robes of a Jedi, and the moment she realized this, she knew that Galen would probably never be free of his past. Still, she the glance she gave him held a measure of reverence for the great warriors he now represented.

"They call it the Death Star," Galen said after a moment. "And we're very lucky it isn't active yet."

"What do you mean? I thought it was a space station."

"No, it is something more," he murmured. "It is a weapon."

Juno shuddered at the idea. She did not want to imagine the kind of power something so massive could have and instead, concentrated on navigating them towards its equator. Meanwhile, Galen shut his eyes and focused his senses to find the magnet-like pull of the Force that would indicate Kota's presence. Instantly, it flared up in his mind's eye like a bright green beacon, and he was also able to detect Vader's red-black aura hovering nearby. He knew the time to face his former master had come, and while he relished the idea of bringing him down, he knew it would be a one-way trip.

"There's a loading area nearby. Get as close as you can and bring the ramp down. I can make it from here, and then you're clear to go."

Juno obeyed automatically, the soldier in her going through the motions, while inside she could barely get a grip on her feelings. Did she dare speak out or would they just hinder Galen's duty? Yet, she feared that she would never get another chance to do so, living with the regret of silence for the rest of her life.

A light flashed on her dashboard, indicating they were already at the correct coordinates. With some reluctance, she brought the Rogue Shadow close to the loading dock and watched Galen head towards the ramp. In a moment, she made a decision, and she set the ship's stabilizers on autopilot, following quickly behind him,

Galen stood at the edge of the ramp, making sure the area was safe for him to access. The wind whipped around them violently, and Juno could feel the ship swaying back and forth beneath her feet. It was dangerous for them to remain in this position any longer.

"I have a really bad feeling about this," she called out to Galen above the engine's whine.

"Then maybe we're doing something right," He joked weakly, glancing back at her.

Juno looked down, saddened by the lightness with which he treated the situation, and afraid that he would jump out at any second, fading forever from her life.

"Am I going to see you again?"

Galen did not look at her this time, "If I can free the rebels they're going to need extraction." He paused and then turned fully towards her. "Probably not, no," he murmured.

"Then I'll never need to live this down," Juno said as she took a few steps forward and kissed him.

Galen seemed unsure of what to do at first, but he closed his eyes, and slowly let himself slip away into what could only be called a dream. Juno's lips were soft and warm, and as he brought her closer, he thought that this bond between them was unlike anything he had ever experienced before. It was something greater than the Dark Side, and greater than the Force. It was the union of two imperfect souls, wandering around in the void of space, that had somehow managed to find each other in the chaos of the universe. Their kiss deepened, and the feel of her tongue, slowly brushing against his lips sent shudders down his spine. Galen had never felt more alive or more human, than during those few moments when he kissed Juno.

He placed his hands on her cheeks, even as she wrapped her arms about his neck. "This is real," he thought, "She is real."

After a few moments that seemed to last an eternity, Galen slowly pulled away and gazed once more into Juno's tear-filled eyes.

"Goodbye Juno," he murmured, and then he let himself fall backward.

He watched her face until the distance blurred it and finally erased it from his sight, but not from his memory.

* * *

The breeze blew warm across the lake surface, bringing with it the scent of new greenery. There were no moons to illuminate the sky in Kashyyyk, only thousands of stars against a dark blue backdrop. Juno stood outside the small, ramshackle hut where Bail Organa and the other rebel leaders were gathered, making plans for the newly-established Rebel Alliance.

Rahm Kota walked up beside her and turned his face upwards at the sky. It was a peculiar thing to do, considering he had lost his sight, but Juno guessed he could still detect the world around him through the Force. She watched him from the corner of her eye. How was it possible that after so many battles and betrayals, so many trials and suffering, the General still managed to exude an air of peace and tranquility? Was it something to do with his personality? Or was this simply the way of the Jedi?

She remembered Galen, how he would sit for hours gazing into the blood-red light of his saber. Or how he would shut his eyes and without moving a finger, assemble the weapon in mid-air. In some odd way, that had been peace for him. Would she ever be able to find it for herself?

Her thoughts coated her in sorrow when Kota suddenly spoke up. "He is, at last, one with the Force."

Tears pricked behind her eyes as Juno hugged herself tighter, feeling an acute stab of pain in her heart. "You knew who he was didn't you?" She blurted out.

Kota meditated briefly. "I suspected it, yes," he answered, sounding slightly amused.

"And yet you still helped him... helped us." Juno's voice trembled, and tears threatened to spill from her eyes. "After everything we'd done. Why?"

Kota turned to her with a kind expression on his face. "When Galen came to me in the bar, all raging anger and hatred, I caught a glimpse of light in the darkness of his thoughts. It was a single, shimmering hope. A beautiful ideal which he held on to until the end."

"What was it?"

"It was you, my dear," Kota said softly. "From the first moment he met you, he knew you had entered his life to change it, whether for good or evil."

"Me? But I... I didn't do anything. I am... I am no one!"

"You were someone to him," Kota pointed out. "You brought the light of understanding into the dark recesses of his soul. You gave him something to care for, a cause to fight for. You taught him the ideals he should follow by sheer example and will."

This time Juno could not hold back. She leaned into Kota's shoulder, hiding her face as a daughter does with her father, and she wept in silence. To think that Galen should have found the way out of Vader's hold because of her. She was grateful she was able to do that much for him.

Kota was not surprised at Juno's reaction, and he embraced her, knowing she needed the comfort. Truth be told, he was also sad at Galen's loss. The boy had caused him much pain and conflict, but he had also helped bring about the Alliance that hopefully would finish the Empire forever. And, he had allowed him to do something he'd never done before: to pass on his knowledge. Though he could have taken a Padawan learner at any point in his career, Kota had never wished to so until he met Galen. In him, he found the importance of being a teacher and of guiding a young life to the path of truth, and for that, he would forever be grateful.

"What will you do now?" He asked once Juno's sobs had eased away.

"I want to join the Rebel Alliance," she said firmly, wiping the remaining tears off her cheeks. "In whatever capacity I can."

He lifted a questioning brow at this. "Oh?"

"There's nothing left for me in the Empire, and even if there was, this is a cause I want to fight for... just like Galen did."

Kota nodded and patted her shoulder. "Good. We will certainly need soldiers of your caliber in the fight ahead of us, Captain Juno Eclipse."


End file.
